Celebrities

Brad Pitt

2009-04-12T17:34:00.000-07:00

The hunky actor monopolized headlines for the last year thanks his new role as proud papa with stunning partner Angelina Jolie. She gave birth to their daughter last May; 10 months later, the pair adopted a Vietnamese boy. Earlier this year, the brood relocated to New Orleans—paparazzi in tow—where Pitt was filming The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. This summer, he stars opposite pal George Clooney in Ocean's 13, followed by this fall's The Assassination of Jesse James, alongside Ocean's co-star Casey Affleck.

William Bradley "Brad" Pitt[1] (born December 18, 1963) is an American actor and film producer. He has been cited as one of the world's most attractive men and his off-screen life is widely reported.[2][3] Pitt has received two Academy Award nominations and has won one Golden Globe Award out of four nominations.

Pitt began his acting career with television guest appearances, including a role on the CBS soap opera Dallas in 1987. He gained recognition as the cowboy hitchhiker who seduces Geena Davis' character in the 1991 road movie Thelma & Louise. Pitt had his first leading roles in major productions in A River Runs Through It (1992) and Interview with the Vampire (1994). He was cast opposite Anthony Hopkins in the 1994 drama Legends of the Fall, which earned him his first Golden Globe nomination. The following year he appeared in two contrasting, critically acclaimed starring roles, in the crime thriller Seven (1995) and the science fiction film Twelve Monkeys (1995), for which he won a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor and earned an Academy Award nomination. Pitt received worldwide attention with the 1999 cult hit Fight Club, as well as the 2001 heist film Ocean's Eleven and its sequels Ocean's Twelve (2004) and Ocean's Thirteen (2007). He was nominated for a second Academy Award for playing the title role in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008). Pitt has had his biggest commercial successes with Troy (2004) and Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005).

Following a high profile relationship with actress Gwyneth Paltrow, Pitt was married to actress Jennifer Aniston for five years. As of 2009, he lives with actress Angelina Jolie, in a relationship that has attracted worldwide media attention.[4] He and Jolie have three adopted children, Maddox, Zahara and Pax, as well as three biological children, Shiloh, Knox, and Vivienne. Pitt owns a production company named Plan B Entertainment, which produced, among other films, the 2007 Academy Award winner for Best Picture, The Departed. Since his relationship with Jolie, he has become increasingly involved in social issues, both in the United States and internationally.

Personal life

In the late 1980s and the 1990s, Pitt was involved in relationships with several of his co-stars, including Robin Givens (Head of the Class), Jill Schoelen (Cutting Class),and Juliette Lewis (Too Young to Die? and Kalifornia), who at sixteen was ten years his junior when they started dating. Pitt also had a much-publicized romance and engagement to Seven co-star Gwyneth Paltrow whom he dated from 1995 to 1997.
Angelina Jolie and Pitt at the Deauville American Film Festival in September 2007

Pitt met Friends actress Jennifer Aniston in 1998 and married her in a private wedding ceremony in Malibu on July 29, 2000.[1][131] For years their marriage was considered the rare Hollywood success.[1][132] However, in January 2005, Pitt and Aniston announced that they decided to formally separate after seven years together.Two months later, Aniston filed for divorce, citing irreconcilable differences.

As Pitt's marriage to Aniston drew to a close, his involvement with actress Angelina Jolie during the filming of Mr. & Mrs. Smith turned into a well-publicized Hollywood scandal. While Pitt denied any claims of adultery, he admitted that he "fell in love" with Jolie on the set, and said that production was still going on for Mr. & Mrs. Smith after he and Aniston had separated

In April 2005, one month after Aniston filed for divorce, a set of paparazzi photos emerged that seemed to confirm the rumors of a relationship between Pitt and Jolie. The photos showed Pitt, Jolie and her son Maddox at a beach in Kenya During the summer, the two were seen together with increasing frequency, and the entertainment media dubbed the couple "Brangelina". Pitt and Aniston's final divorce documents were granted by the Los Angeles Superior Court on October 2, 2005, ending their marriage. On January 11, 2006, Jolie confirmed to People that she was pregnant with Pitt's child and thereby confirmed their relationship for the first time in public. In an October 2006 interview with Esquire, Pitt said that he and Jolie would marry "when everyone else in the country who wants to be married is legally able".

Despite media reports that Pitt and Aniston have an acrimonious relationship, Pitt has said in a February 2009 interview that he and Aniston "check in with each other".[140] Also adding, "She was a big part of my life, and me hers." In October 2007, Pitt revealed in an interview that he is no longer a Christian or believes in an afterlife. Pitt stated: "There's peace in understanding that I have only one life, here and now, and I'm responsible." He is also a knowledgeable fan of architecture.

Children

* Maddox Chivan Jolie-Pitt (born August 5, 2001 in Cambodia; adopted January 19, 2006)
* Pax Thien Jolie-Pitt (born November 29, 2003 in Vietnam; adopted March 15, 2007)
* Zahara Marley Jolie-Pitt (born January 8, 2005 in Ethiopia; adopted January 19, 2006)
* Shiloh Nouvel Jolie-Pitt (born May 27, 2006 in Swakopmund, Namibia)
* Knox Léon Jolie-Pitt (born July 12, 2008 in Nice, France)
* Vivienne Marcheline Jolie-Pitt (born July 12, 2008 in Nice, France)

Rolling Stones

2009-04-12T15:25:00.000-07:00

Still gathering no moss, the Stones had the highest-grossing tour in North America last year, bringing in $139 million. They doubled that abroad. The 'Bigger Bang' tour, which kicked off back in 2005, has grossed $437 million to date, making it the top-generating tour in history. This time around, Keith Richards, not Mick Jagger, dominated headlines thanks to his star turn in the recent Pirates of the Caribbean sequel, in addition to comments made this spring that he once snorted his father's ashes. (He later recanted.)

The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in 1962 in London when multi-instrumentalist Brian Jones and pianist Ian Stewart were joined by vocalist Mick Jagger and guitarist Keith Richards. Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early lineup. Stewart, deemed unsuitable as a teen idol, was removed from the official lineup in 1963 but continued to work with the band as road manager and keyboardist until his death in 1985.

Jagger and Richards early on formed the songwriting partnership Jagger/Richards and gradually took over leadership of the band from the increasingly troubled and erratic Jones. At first the group recorded mainly covers of American blues and R&B songs, but since the 1966 album Aftermath, their releases have mainly featured Jagger/Richards songs. Mick Taylor replaced an incapacitated Jones shortly before Jones's death in 1969. Taylor quit in 1974, and was replaced in 1975 by Faces guitarist Ronnie Wood, who has remained with the band ever since. Wyman left the Rolling Stones in 1992; bassist Darryl Jones, who is not an official band member, has worked with the group since 1994.

First popular in the UK and Europe, The Rolling Stones came to the US during the early 1960s "British Invasion". The Rolling Stones have released 22 studio albums in the UK (24 in the US), eight concert albums (nine in the US) and numerous compilations; and have sold more than 200 million albums worldwide.[1] Sticky Fingers (1971) began a string of eight consecutive studio albums that charted at number one in the United States. Their latest album, A Bigger Bang, was released in 2005. In 1989 The Rolling Stones were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and in 2004 they were ranked number 4 in Rolling Stone magazine's 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. Their image of unkempt and surly youth is one that many musicians still emulate.

Madonna

2009-04-09T01:57:00.000-07:00

Madonna crisscrossed the globe last year for her tour, 'Confessions,' which drew over 1 million fans and grossed $194 million, making it the top-earning tour by a female artist in history. NBC cut the Material Girl a hefty check to broadcast the 'Confessions' tour live last November, though ratings proved disappointing. In March, the always-fashion-forward singer linked up with retailer H&M for her own clothing line, M. (Rhinestones a-plenty, but no cone bras.) Generated a maelstrom of negative publicity last year for her adoption of a baby in Malawi.'

Madonna (born Madonna Louise Ciccone on August 16, 1958) is an American recording artist, dancer, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan and raised in Rochester Hills, Michigan, Madonna moved to New York City in 1977, for a career in modern dance. After performing as member of the pop musical groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her self-titled debut album in 1983, and then produced three consecutive number-one studio albums on the Billboard 200 in the 1980s and four more since year 2000.

Madonna is known for exploring religious symbolism and sexual themes in her work. This drew criticism from the Vatican in the late 1980s. In 1992, she founded an entertainment company, Maverick, which published a book of photographs (Sex). She also released a studio album (Erotica) and starred in a film (Body of Evidence) with erotic themes. These works generated negative publicity and coincided with a fall in commercial sales in the 1990s. Madonna's career was revived in 1998, when the release of her album Ray of Light garnered critical acclaim.

Madonna has acted in 22 films. Although most failed critically and commercially, she earned a Golden Globe Award for her role in the 1996 film Evita. In 1996 Madonna gave birth to a daughter, Lourdes Maria (also known as Lola) by personal trainer Carlos Leon before marrying film director Guy Ritchie in 2000. She and Ritchie have two sons, Rocco and David Banda, a Malawian boy they adopted in 2006, which caused media allegations they violated that country's adoption laws.
She has been regarded as "one of the greatest pop acts of all time" and dubbed the "Queen of Pop" by various sources. She is ranked by the Recording Industry Association of America as the best-selling female rock artist of the twentieth century and the second top-selling female artist in the United States with 63 million certified albums. Guinness World Records list her as the world's most successful female recording artist of all time and the top-earning female singer in the world with an estimated net worth of US$490 million, having sold over 200 million records worldwide.[10][11][12][13] On March 10, 2008, she was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Tiger Woods

2009-04-09T01:35:00.000-07:00

Woods is the first athlete in history to bank $100 million in a year, thanks in part to a raise he finagled out of long-time endorser Nike. (The sneaker giant's Tiger-oriented golf division is now a $600 million-a-year business.) He also signed a new deal with Gillette and upped his usual lucrative overseas playing gigs, where he can command, on average, $3 million a pop.Wife Elin gave birth to the couple's first child, daughter Sam Alexis, in June.

Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods (born December 30, 1975) is an American professional golfer whose achievements to date rank him among the most successful golfers of all time. Currently the World No. 1, he was the highest-paid professional athlete in 2008, having earned an estimated $110 million from winnings and endorsements.

Woods has won fourteen professional major golf championships, the second highest of any male player, and 66 PGA Tour events, third all time. He has more career major wins and career PGA Tour wins than any other active golfer. He is the youngest player to achieve the career Grand Slam, and the youngest and fastest to win 50 tournaments on tour.

Woods has held the number one position in the world rankings for the most consecutive weeks and for the greatest total number of weeks. He has been awarded PGA Player of the Year a record nine times, the Byron Nelson Award for lowest adjusted scoring average a record eight times, and has tied Jack Nicklaus' record of leading the money list in eight different seasons. He has been named Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year a record-tying four times, and is the only person to be named Sports Illustrated's Sportsman of the Year more than once.

Since his record-breaking win at the 1997 Masters Tournament, golf's increased popularity is attributed to Woods' presence. He is credited for dramatically increasing prize money in golf, generating interest in new audiences as the first black person to win the Masters, and for drawing the largest TV audiences in golf history.

Oprah Winfrey

2009-04-09T00:28:00.000-07:00

Oprah Gail Winfrey (born January 29, 1954) is an American television presenter, media mogul and philanthropist. Her internationally-syndicated talk show, The Oprah Winfrey Show, has earned her multiple Emmy Awards and is the highest-rated talk show in the history of television. She is also an influential book critic, an Academy Award nominated actress, and a magazine publisher. She has been ranked the richest African American of the 20th century the most philanthropic African American of all time, and was once the world's only black billionaire. She is also, according to some assessments, the most influential woman in the world.

Born in rural Mississippi to a poor teenage single mother and later raised in an inner city Milwaukee neighborhood, Winfrey was raped at age 9 and at 14-years-old gave birth to a son, who died in infancy. ent to live with the man she calls her father, a barber in Tennessee, Winfrey landed a job in radio while still in high school and began co-anchoring the local evening news at the age of 19. Her emotional ad-lib delivery eventually got her transferred to the daytime talk show arena, and after boosting a third-rated local Chicago talk show to first place, she launched her own production company and became internationally syndicated.
Credited with creating a more intimate confessional form of media communication, she is thought to have popularized and revolutionized the tabloid talk show genre pioneered by Phil Donahue, which a Yale study claimed broke 20th century taboos and allowed LGBT people to enter the mainstream. By the mid 1990s she had reinvented her show with a focus on literature, self-improvement, and spirituality. Though criticized for unleashing confession culture[and promoting controversial self-help fads, she is generally admired for overcoming adversity to become a benefactor to others. In 2006 she became an early supporter of Barack Obama and one analysis estimates she delivered over a million votes in the close 2008 Democratic primary race, an achievement for which the governor of Illinois considered offering her a seat in the U.S. senate.
The media queen is poised to conquer prime time this fall with two reality shows for ABC. For those keeping score, the Oprah empire already includes a blockbuster daytime talk show, satellite radio show, magazine and Broadway musical ('The Color Purple'). Oprah also owns stakes in hit talk shows by protégé Dr. Phil McGraw and Rachael Ray. In January, the nation's richest African American, worth an estimated $1.5 billion, realized a long-held dream when she opened the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls in South Africa.

Paula Abdul

2009-04-05T19:15:00.000-07:00

Birth Date: 06/19/1963
Birthplace: San Fernando, California

Claim to Fame (or Shame)
This former Lakers cheerleader and choreographer has staying power, even if her onetime collaborator MC Skat Kat doesn’t. No matter who how many times American Idol's softest judge steals the red carpet spotlight with her bright outfits and unique word choices, pisses off Simon Cowell, gets caught in a hit and run or trades marital vows with Emilio Estevez, Paula-babe will always be forever your girl, right? Us, too. Straight up, we’re grateful that Paula made the leap from Hollywood square to Idol judge in 2002. Fun fact: Michael Bolton was her babysitter. That explains a lot.

Credits

1 Movies, 14 TV appearances, 9 awards

Movie

Master of Disguise

TV Appearances

Sabrina, The Teenage Witch
Spin City
That'S So Raven
Hey Paula!
Less Than Perfect
The Bernie Mac Show
Cybill
Family Guy
Muppets Tonight
The Single Guy
The Wayans Bros
American Idol
Hollywood Residential
All Of Us

Awards

1991 : American Music Award : Pop/Rock Female Artist
1990 : Emmy : Outstanding Achievement in Choreography
1990 : Grammy : Best short-form music video
1989 : American Music Award : Dance Music Artist
1989 : MTV Music Video Award : Dance Video
1989 : MTV Music Video Award : Female Video
1989 : American Music Award : Pop/Rock Female Artist
1989 : Emmy : Outstanding Achievement in Choreography
1987 : MTV Video Award : Best Dance Video

Family

Father: Harry Abdul:Syrian, Brazilian; divorced from Paula's mother
Mother: Lorraine Abdul:French-Canadian; divorced from Paula's father
Sister: Wendy Abdul:born c. 1956
Husband: Brad Beckerman:married October 24, 1996; divorced 1998
Husband: Emilio Estevez:born May 12, 1962; married April 1992; divorced May 1994

Hookups

Companion: Colton Melby:part owner of gun manufacturer Smith & Wesson; began dating April 2003; split January 2004
Companion: Dante Spencer: met salsa dancing at an L.A. club; began dating August 2005; no longer together
Companion: J T Torregiani: Dolce Group partner; dated from 2007-2008
Companion: Jace Richdale: wrote for the TV series "The Simpsons"
Companion: Tony Schiena: Rumored to have dated in 2006; no longer together

Notes

"Abdul got a chance to show off her voice. It was lovely, although not great. Her appeal lies in her wonderful phrasing, attention to details and sense of showmanship that engages the crowd in every piece."---Dan Aquilante in his New York Post review of Abdul's first concert tour, November 20, 1991.
"Ms. Abdul owes her multi-million-selling albums to diligence and modern electronics as well as catchy songs. Diligence and skill turned a short, rounded (but trim) cheerleader for the Los Angeles Lakers into an influential pop choreographer; studio electronics bolstered a small voice on her albums and glamorized her video image with quick cuts and careful camera angles."---Jon Pareles in his The New York Times review of Abdul's concert tour, November 21, 1991.
Described as "the kind of mass-appeal superstar critics love to loathe. Many claim the former cheerleader's peppy dance routines and videogenic charm, not her musical ability, pushed sales of her first album to 7 million and the second, "Spellbound", to nearly 3 million."---From USA Today, October 29, 1991.
In 1995 Abdul participated in an ABC television interview with Diane Sawyer in which she discussed her weight problem and her personal battles with bulimia.
In May 2005, ABC's Primetime Live reported second season Idol contestant Corey Clark's claims and corroborating evidence that he and Abdul had had an affair during the season, and that she had coached him on how to succeed in the competition. Adbul has dismissed Clark's claims.
In November 2004, Abdul had been diagnosed with reflex sympathetic dystrophy. Public concern rose as her behavior became erratic on a couple of occasions-during American Idol as well as during an April 2005 appearance on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," when she appeared to be intoxicated.
On March 24, 2005, Abdul was fined and sentenced to two years' probation for a hit-and-run incident in Encino, California.

Milestones

(1995) After taking a few years off for personal issues, she released "Head Over Heels," her third studio album
(2002-present) Appeared with Simon Cowell and Randy Jackson as judges in the reality competition "American Idol"
(2002) Became a correspondent for "Entertainment Tonight" (CBS). Began choreographing for such movies as "Bull Durham," "The Running Man," "Can't Buy Me Love" and "Coming to America"
(1999) Cast in the NBC television movie "Mr. Rock and Roll: The Alan Freed Story" Choreographed four of Janet Jackson's videos from her "Control" album, including "Nasty" and "What have you done for me lately"
(1984) Discovered by the Jacksons while dancing at a Laker game; hired as an assistant dance director on The Jackson's Victory tour
(1982-1985) Dropped out of school to become a Laker Girl, a cheerleader for the Los Angeles Lakers; promoted to choreographer
(2005) Joined Fox's reality show "So You Think You Can Dance" as a correspondent
(1981) Made film debut at age 15 in "Junior High School"
Offered a dance scholarship at the Julliard school for performing arts in New York City; turned it down to stay closer to home
Received an Emmy for choreographing "The Tracy Ullman Show". (1990) Released a remix album titled "Shut Up And Dance," which became the top selling remix album in history
(1988) Released her debut album, "Forever Your Girl"; the single "Straight Up" became Paula's first number one hit
(1991) Released the album "Spellbound"; the single "Rush Rush" was an instant hit
(1987) Signed a deal with Virgin records
(1997) Starred in the ABC television movie "Touched By Evil". Started her own dance company, Company Dance, and showcased dance competitions throughout the US.